More…? Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper prepared by his parents and put them in a big paper plate.

More…? She sells seashells by the sea shore. The shells she sells are surely seashells. So if she sells shells on the seashore, I'm sure she sells seashore shells.

Popular activities for the Staff Development Day:? 1. Observing someone’s classroom teaching and having a discussion afterwards ? 2. Studying some instructional theories / theories of English teaching together ? Checking the students’ homework while chatting / grading paper / gossiping ? …

What else? Any other options?There are some activities that we may put into practice to improve both our spoken and written English:

1. Learning some idioms in English together Idioms Based on Weather

2. Watching a talk on the Internet, a TED talk might be a good choice

3. Is it possible that we learn English grammar online, by watching some video clips?S8KTECOTI.mp4

Are you a little bit inspired?? 1. Are these idioms useful in terms of improving our spoken English? ? 2. Do you think these videos or the website called TED can play an important role in improving our listening? ? 3. Is learning English grammar online a practical method?

Why I recommend these activities to you?

? According to the National English Curriculum Standard for Compulsory Education(2011 Edition), we English teachers are supposed to help the students develop their Skills and Knowledge of English, and also their Emotional Attitude, Language Learning Strategies and Cultural Awareness. ? If we don’t upgrade our own knowledge and command of English, how are we able to reach these goals?